Marisa 7: The Academy at Rufina
by Prof. Voodoo
Summary: Marisa faces her greatest personal challenge yet. Oh yes, there will be nuns...


-1_This is a fan-fiction. The author does not own the property of the original concept, or any characters from the original._

It was late evening, after dinner but well before _lights out_ time, when Marisa gave a soft knock on the door of Claes & Triela's dorm room. There was no immediate response, but the door was already partly open, and there was the sound of voices inside, so she ventured to poke her head in.

It was the usual scene. The 4 Generation 1 cyborgs were in their normal spots, Claes on her top bunk, reading (this time it was a book on plumbing repair). Rico sat silently at the table, holding one of Triela's teddy bears in her lap, while the bear's owner hunched over Henrietta, who had her head buried in her arms, face down on the table. Triela saw Mari and silently motioned for her to come in. As the red-haired cyborg got closer she could hear Henrietta sobbing earnestly.

_What's wrong?_ she wondered. 'Etta did not look as if she was hurt..._might something have happened to Giuseppe?_ Not likely, she'd seen both of them in Geography class this afternoon, so the fratello had not been out on a mission.

"You've got to calm down and tell us what's wrong..." Triela softly cooed, "...your friends can't help you if you don't tell us what is the matter." She stroked the younger girl's hair, and rubbed her back.

At last Henrietta lifted her head; her face red and streaked with tears. "It's G-Giuse," she sobbed, "we had dinner together in the d-dinning hall, and I told him the m-m-manicotti looked good t-tonight...but then he chose a salad instead! I think he _hates me_!"

_Are you kidding me?_ crossed Marisa's mind. She looked around the room for signs that this was a prank, but everything was in order. The best indicator of truth or fiction, Rico, sat across the table from her crying room-mate with a look of helpless sympathy on her face. If this was a set-up she would detect it in the expression of the blonde girl, who could not carry out a lie, or even a joke to save her life.

"I'm sure it's not as bad as all that" Triela assured her weeping friend, "you and Giuse have different things for dinner all the time, don't you? And on top of that he stayed late to spend time with you, that's got to count for something."

"I-I-I sup-p-pose" 'Etta muttered, wiping her eyes.

Triela urged her to her feet. "Now why don't you go wash your face and let Claes make us some tea?" Claes looked up from her book and shot Triela a scowl.

"Okay" muttered Henrietta with a sniffle, slowly shuffling toward the door.

As her friend passed they made eye contact, so Marisa felt compelled to add something, "Umm, Mr. Giuseppe was probably just concerned about his heart..." she offered.

Bad move. "There's a problem with Giuse's heart!?" shrieked Henrietta. Triela slapped her own forehead in frustration.

Mari had to backpedal quickly from her screw-up, "No! No, there's no problem...he just wants to take care of himself and stay healthy...we all want our handlers to remain healthy, right?" Henrietta wiped her eyes again and nodded. She cracked a small smile and went to go wash her face.

Once she was gone Marisa broke the silence. "Did that actually happen?" she muttered.

"Welcome to the _World of Henrietta_" Triela informed her, "she gets like this...maybe once a month." The older girl thought _maybe she's compensating for not having a period_, but she decided not to share that out loud. "Last thing to set her off was Giuse not taking her to the post mission failure analysis meeting, back when that safe-house raid in Florence got so screwed up."

"A _What-Went-Wrong_ meeting?" asked Mari with a cringe, "Henrietta actually _likes_ those?"

"No, she hates them as much as we all do" Triela answered, "it was the fact that Mr. Croce didn't take her with him. Thanks for your help, too...that was a good move asking her if she wanted Giuse to remain healthy."

"I almost screwed it up..." she reminded her big sister.

"No big deal...she bounces back fast." sighed Triela, "Anyway, what brings you around? You normally don't bring your side-arm when you come on a social visit."

Mari had forgotten all about the reason she had come over. It was just so natural for the SWA girls to walk around carrying handguns or rifles that nobody had even questioned it, and she had forgotten she was holding it. "Oh yeah," she giggled awkwardly, "do you have any gun oil? I ran out and it's too late to get any more from the armory."

"Top drawer..." instructed Triela, pointing to a dresser, "...next to the socks & underwear. Just take the chair where Hannibal is sitting." Mari put down her pistol to move the teddy bear but just before she touched its artificial fur Triela shouted "Careful!" Marisa froze. "He bites!"

_Is everyone in this dorm bat-shit crazy?_ wondered Marisa, applying a phrase she'd learned from Elio when he didn't think she was listening.

"Wow, that's a big pistol!" commented Rico.

Marisa smiled and cleaned her Beretta 92FS proudly. "It's a 9mm, same as your CZ-75, and it's just a little longer."

"It must be hard to conceal" conjectured Triela, "why doesn't your handler get you a smaller pistol; it would be a lot more comfortable."

Mari just replied "I kinda like a having big weapon..." the grin never departing her face.

"Pen Is Envy" sighed Claes out loud. Luckily, only her room-mate understood the snide joke.

"Be nice!" Triela warned, "Or I'll rat you out for your secret contraband stash!"

"I have no secret stash" lied the dark haired girl, her eyes darting to her bookshelf. Claes nearly always kept her composure, but those eyes could give her away.

"Oh, maybe I just need to tell Jean about the hidden collection of _adult literature_ that you keep hidden behind the false back of your book-case," Triela threatened teasingly, standing up to trace her finger along the shelves, "Top shelf, I believe" added the tall girl, tapping the correct one. She picked up the telephone and added, "Mr. Croce would be very upset with a certain cyborg if he learned she was being corrupted by _Forbidden Passion_ and a _Swarthy Spanish Paramour_..."

Claes' resolve broke, and she leapt from her top bunk! "You wouldn't dare! Give me that phone!" she growled as the room-mates playfully wrestled over the hand-set. Rico & Marisa laughed.

Things were going really well for Marisa. She'd been on enough missions in the past few weeks to consider herself a seasoned asset of the SWA, and she lived a happy life in the dormitory between missions. She hadn't experienced a bad anxiety attack for over a week...the stability felt good. Mari felt like she could handle anything the world had to throw at her. Little did she know that feeling was soon to be tested.

**________Dreams & Nightmares__________**

The next morning all the handlers were required to come in early. "Business" was booming, and all available fratelli were needed to deploy. Right at the worst time, two _public relations_ jobs were starting, which would cost the agency 3 teams right there. The first of these PR missions involved escorting Isabella D'Angelo, Chairwoman of the Messina Bridge Development Corporation, to a state dinner with chief executives of about a dozen nations. The security force for this event (in Stockholm) was going to be enormous, and top notch, but a recent attempt on the life of the Danish Prime Minister had put everyone on edge. Defense Minister Petris had requested a cyborg be at the Chairwoman's side for the whole event, and when Chief Lorenzo told her they were already stretched too thin she _ordered_ it.

It was the second public relations mission that had all the cyborgs & many of the handlers excited. The Irish rock band U2 was making a 5-city Italian swing on their latest European tour, but threats had been made against their outspoken lead singer, Bono, by several right-wing groups who objected to his advocacy for Third World debt forgiveness. 2 cyborgs (accompanied by their _chaperones_) would travel with the tour, and have full back-stage access, posing as a "contest winner" and her best friend. As to which 2 fratelli would be the "winners" of the mission, no clues had yet leaked out. There had been days of intrigue & rumors...word had it Chief Lorenzo would be making the decision, some insisted Jean Croce had already made up his mind. The Social Welfare Agency was made up of ex-spies, ex-cops, and juvenile girls, all hungry for information, which made it one of the greatest gossip mills the world had ever witnessed.

Finally, the day had arrived, and the mission planning room was packed, standing room only. Jean got straight to the point. "Every team will either be deployed, or on immediate stand-by before 1600 today. I don't have time to explain every single mission, so Priscilla is handing out sheets right now." The agency was so busy that Priscilla even found an assignment for _herself_ in the stack of papers she was handing out. She would be taking Claes along on a job to tap wires & intercept Padania communications traffic in Naples. _Cool, maybe we'll get to do some shopping!_

Jean paused and let the tension build. "You're all wondering who got the _dream mission_, I suspect?" There were some nods, but most just avoided eye contact. "It will be the Hillshire/Triela fratello..." he began. There were a few sighs from the handlers who saw their chances now 50% reduced, but the most common sentiment was that _she deserves it_. Triela was the senior cyborg in the agency, and nearly always took point on the most dangerous missions. Nobody begrudged her a bit of fun as a reward. Attention now moved on to the 2nd team. "...and the Rissi/Petrushka fratello." The room felt less enthusiasm for this choice, but Alessandro breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Petra had threatened him with a fate worse than death if he failed to snag them this desirable mission...Sandro had kissed so much ass over the past week that he was beginning to lose his ability to taste food. _Oh well,_ he thought _champagne & shrimp cocktails backstage should cure __that__!_

Now that they had their missions most of the handlers went about their duties, all but 2 of them going to face a very disappointed & angry partner. Once the crowd had thinned out only Jean, his brother, and Elio Alboreto were left without sheets. Hillshire & Alessandro stayed behind as well, Rissi's feet propped up on a desk. They still needed their mission specific information, and Ferro was working out the details with the concert organizers.

"Okay, that leaves a sniper mission, the dinner with Chairwoman D'Angelo, and the bodyguard thing in Rufina" Jean explained, "any preferences?" Everyone in the room looked directly at Elio.

"Sure," he growled, "...put the pressure on me."

"It's not like that," Giuseppe tried to explain, "we're just concerned, I mean...Marisa..."

"Go ahead and say it" the older man teased, "Marisa would suck at all 3 of these. She is not our best sniper...personally I'd put Rico on that mission. I absolutely can not trust her at a formal state dinner. Even if she doesn't have an anxiety attack she would cause an international incident by asking the Swedish Prime Minister if he's going to finish his soup. That kid thinks the reason you get two forks in a classy restaurant is so you can eat twice as fast. Plus, I'd have to pose as security, so I wouldn't be at her side to keep her in check. No...you should take Henrietta on that one, Giuse."

"Well, the Chairwoman _does_ already know and like 'Etta." admitted Giuse. It was the mission he was hoping to get anyway...his girl was a bit too timid for rock-concerts.

"Ohh, man, that leaves you with the personal protection job" muttered Alessandro, "that can't be good."

Jean agreed. "Maybe we can shuffle our fratelli around...do you think Marisa could handle the U2 thing? We could say she's Triela's little sister."

"Whoa!" exclaimed Rissi, jumping to his feet, "We need to consider the fact that poor Alessandro _will be murdered_ by his own cyborg if he fails to get that mission! No amount of conditioning will prevent that, gentlemen!" He saw his hard-won week of hanging out with rock stars slipping away...

"We could swap with Triela instead...Marisa could easily pass for Petra's little sister." suggested Hillshire "They're both redheads." He wasn't really looking forward to spending a week with rock musicians & thousands of screaming adolescents anyway.

"Cut the crap guys!" snapped Elio, "Both Petrushka & Triela are too old looking for the Rufina mission. We're guarding a girl who's 10 years old, the cyborg has to be able to stay close to her and attend the same classes." He took a deep breath and sighed, "That means Marisa is going to Catholic school."

* * *

Once the meeting was finally over Victor Hillshire pulled Elio aside. "Um, I didn't want to bring this up in front of everybody, but..." he produced a small mp3 player and a set of head-phones from his pocket "...I caught Marisa listening to this in my language class yesterday." He handed it over to his colleague.

"Jesus H. fucking Christ..." muttered an embarrassed Alboreto, "I'm sorry about that Victor, believe me, we are going to have a _serious_ talk about this...she won't do it again."

"You know, it's entirely up to you, but we try to keep _outside distractions_ to a minimum...that's why televisions are not allowed in the dormitory" Hillshire explained, glad to have an upper hand on his fellow handler, specifically the one who had called him a "_Bavarian kraut fucker_" a few weeks ago.

"I gave it to her so she could learn about modern music" Elio explained, "you know, whatever the kids are listening to these days. When we ride together in the car, or when she's in my office she only hears what _I_ listen to."

"Which, I assume, is a lot of American Blues and British guitar rock" guessed Hillshire.

Elio's bushy grey eyebrows rose. "Well, yeah, who doesn't like Eric Clapton?"

The German pointed at the mp3 player and said "Apparently Mari does. Check what's on her player."

Alboreto fumbled with the buttons for a few moments before admitting "I don't know how to work this thing." Hillshire selected the option that called up her song list...he was absolutely right. Every song on Marisa's player came directly from her handler's CD collection.

Hillshire pointed out the obvious. "As you see, she's not researching modern music at all...most of these bands are from the 1960's & '70's. I mean...how many 11-year olds know who _Warren Zevon _is?"

"Agreed" Elio grumbled, putting the mp3 player in his pocket "I will deal with this, but now is not a good time."

* * *

"We're going where!?" shrieked Marisa. Elio had been right to take her outside, behind the dormitory, to break the news. "I don't think I can do this, boss!"

"You'll be fine...it's a normal school, with normal girls your age" he assured her in calm tones, "Consider it training...I think it could be very good for you."

"It's a fucking _Catholic School_! With fucking nuns!" she exclaimed.

Her handler waved a warning finger, "Mari, I know you're not happy, but mind the language."

"You're right..." she replied, seizing an opportunity, "...I should be grounded, a whole week restricted to the dorm! Fuck! Bitch! ASS!"

He rolled his eyes. Maybe they should have done this further away from the dorm. "We're going to Rufina, those are our orders...end of discussion."

I was not the end yet, and Elio knew it. He watched the sweat bead up on his cyborg's brow...she began to tremble all over. The handler knew this would probably lead to an anxiety attack, and he was ready. "Elioooo..." she whined, her eyes tearing up "it's getting bad!"

He dropped to his knees and held her by the arms gently, "Breathe, remember to breathe...concentrate on the touch of my hands & start your mantra" said Elio. The girl closed her eyes & began repeating the name of _Mama Galati_ under her breath. She was now shaking violently, and she fell to her own knees, so Alboreto pulled her closer so his cyborg could hear his own heartbeat. She was losing control of her breathing regularity, so he put his arms around the girl and squeezed her, then released, over & over, slowly & rhythmically, giving her the cues to get her own respiration under control. Slowly, Marisa came back...when her breaths were again slow and steady Elio pulled a bottle of water from his back pocket and poured it over her hands. That was the final step...as Mari's anxiety attacks went this had been a mild one.

For a while she just knelt on the grass in front of her handler, sobbing in embarrassment & frustration. "I can't even _hear_ about this mission without having an attack" she cried, "how am I going to go through with it? I hate being like this but I'm scared...scared that I'm going to screw up and ruin everything." She clawed at the grass with trembling hands. Marisa felt pathetic. She had considered Henrietta strange because she freaked out over every little thing Mr. Giuseppe did, but here she was trying to beg her way out of a mission because she was afraid of _nuns_. Never in her life had Mari felt so feeble and unworthy of her own power.

"One step at a time" Elio calmed her, "when you have to talk to a nun just visualize that she's something you're not afraid of."

"Like a 5 meter shark" Marisa muttered honestly, "or a terrorist with a Gatling-gun,"

"Okay, bizarre examples, but you're right" replied her handler, "I have confidence in you, and that has to count for something."

Marisa liked the sound of those words. She wiped her eyes and said "I'll do my best. Not for the agency, or for some random girl that we have to protect, but for you, Elio."

"I'm glad." he told her, as the two got back on their feet, "Now go inside and wash up, we'll hit the road at 10 o'clock. We'll take the Ducati, so you'll need your helmet, jacket & riding boots. Aside from that you won't need much clothing."

"Why not?" she asked, "This mission is supposed to last at least a week, isn't it?"

The man took a deep breath and informed her "The school will issue you uniforms." With that, the peaceful morning was broken by another angry scream.

**___________The Academy____________ **

Usually a long ride on the back of Elio's Ducati ST4S was a thrilling experience for his girl. The twin-cylinder Italian engine's booming exhaust sounded more musical than any other motorcycle on the road; richer than the ferocious howl of a Japanese 4-cylinder, and more melodic than the lazy cadence of an American Harley-Davidson. She held tightly to the waist loops of her master's Belstaff touring coat, feeling very cool-looking in her own black & red Dainese jacket, watching the scenery of Lazio & Tuscany flash past. Elio had decided against the _autostrada_ in favor of a longer route that hugged the western seacoast. On any other day Marisa would have been in utter ecstasy.

Uncertainty lay at the end of today's journey though. Doubts gnawed at the young cyborg's natural cockiness, making it difficult to enjoy the ride. She desperately wanted to do well on this job and please her handler, but it was not the kind of thing you could train and prepare for. Mari felt the urge to turn on her mp3 player (her AGV helmet was equipped with built in speakers and an intercom to Elio's helmet) and distract herself with music, but even that was impossible; Mr. Hillshire had taken custody of it after catching her listening to the device during a particularly boring French lesson. She dreaded confessing _that_ to Elio...maybe _after_ the mission.

A little over 2 hours into the ride, & just after lunch in the city of Grosseto they turned east, and the sea disappeared behind the Ducati. There were still almost 100km of scenic roads ahead of them before jumping onto the Autostrada in Siena for the last 70km into Florence, but once her beloved Mediterranean had dropped out of view the job had officially begun in Marisa's mind.

Elio had a little trouble finding it using the map Ferro had provided, but 4 o'clock that afternoon he rode the ST4 up a gravel road to the front gate of the _Accademia per le Ragazze di Maria Bartholomea di Bagnesiis_. There were 2 Carabinieri officers standing guard at the gate, but their attitude was casual. They did not reach for their machine guns when Elio dismounted and presented his credentials at to them, and they did not even insist that he remove his helmet to check his identification.

The two guards opened the wrought iron gate and waved Alboreto through without much fuss. As the fratello rolled across the threshold Marisa shifted her grip from the hand-loops her boss had sewn into the waist of his jacket, to a full grip around his mid-section. He could feel her tension; she was already squeezing him enough to make breathing difficult. Taking his left hand off the handlebar Elio took her hand and gave it a re-assuring squeeze, but through both of their heavy armored gloves it did not have much of a calming effect.

The school was an imposing structure of dark gray stone covered in creeping green ivy, looking more like a gothic medieval fortress than what Marisa expected of a school. As Elio swung the kickstand down (glad that Ducati had abandoned the evil spring loaded _self-retracting_ kickstands of previous models) they were already starting to attract attention. Curious girls in blue-green plaid jumpers, clustered in groups of common age, whispered amongst themselves and pointed at the exotic sight. It was possible that this was the first motorcycle to ever pull up in front of the school.

Aware of the many eyes upon her Mari ignored her conditioned instinct to blend in and pulled her helmet off with great flourish. It had the desired effect...the girls gasped and chattered excitedly when her braided pig-tails swung freely & they realized it was a fellow girl riding on the back of the motorcycle. Without any help from Elio she swung her right leg across the seat, hopped down to the gravel and walked beside her handler. Contrasted against the plain-looking students she felt like a celebrity.

Just as Marisa's her self-satisfaction peaked it all came crashing down like a house of cards. Standing in the main doorway were two imposing women dressed in habits. She froze in her tracks when she saw the nuns. Elio was ready for her reaction, and placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her, but also gently push her along. Marisa still took short, halting steps, dragging her expensive SIDI racing boots in the gravel.

"Welcome to our Academy" greeted the older of the two nuns, who smiled but did not extend her hand.

"Thank you, I am Mr. Elio Alboreto, from _Tiber Security Options_" the handler introduced himself using a fake company he & Jean had made up the night before. He even had business cards to offer. "My manager spoke to Mother Superior Ursula yesterday..."

"I am she" replied the woman. She wore no insignia to distinguish herself from the other nuns, "if you do not mind me saying so, Sir, I had the impression TSO was sending a younger man."

"Most of the younger men in my profession are engaged in government service" explained Alboreto, "private sector employment is something of a second career."

"I see..." Mother Ursula replied, "...I hope this will not effect the price of service that has already been negotiated with Mr. Croce." She was _cagey_, this woman. "We run the school modestly, you understand."

Elio nodded and pulled out a trick he had planned with Jean. "Ma'am, you need not worry about the cost. My firm has convinced the public prosecutor's office in Rome to absorb the cost of our security services." The SWA had never intended to charge the school, but Jean had led them to believe they would so Elio could deliver the good news later. It worked; the 2 nuns smiled toward Heaven and crossed themselves. _Devine gifts from the hands of murderers_, thought Elio, unable to suppress a small chuckle.

The younger nun finally broke her silence. "You must be Marisa" she said, bending down to the girl's level, "we're very pleased to have you here, I hope you will enjoy your time at our Academy. I am Sister Amata" Mari felt a little silly...she had unconsciously crept halfway behind Elio as he conversed with the Mother Superior. Her eyes were wide and her heart raced. "It's okay to be a little shy...but we don't bite." Marisa was still petrified, but with Elio's help she crept out, and managed a courteous nod and tepid smile. The young nun continued; "That's a very exciting jacket you have, but all the students here wear the school uniform. If you'll come with me we can measure you and get you some uniforms of your own." She extended her hand.

This was a major test, and Alboreto knew it. He had never taken his hand off Marisa's shoulder, so he felt her tense up when the moment came to go off by herself. Literally, she was like a child going off to her first day of school, with the added complication of an unpredictable nun-phobia. Mari took a deep breath and took the plunge. "My, what a firm grip you have, Marisa!" commented the woman, in a cheery tone.

"Be good, Mari" ordered her handler "have the Sister bring you to me once you're done...we still have important things to do before you retire to your room for the evening."

"Aren't I staying with you?" she asked.

"Oh no!" chortled Sister Amata, "You get to stay in the dormitory with the other girls...won't that be fun?"

Marisa clenched her teeth and hissed at Elio "Paaappppaaaa..." He had intentionally left that part out.

"You'll be fine" he assured her, "go ahead."

Once the two had left them Mother Ursula gave Elio a smile. The two walked together toward her office. "You have a lovely daughter...I hope she does not feel too nervous about coming to a new school."

_You don't know the half of it_, thought Alboreto, but he nodded and replied "I'm sure she will be fine. I have to travel a lot in my work, so she has attended many different schools."

"That is unfortunate" sighed the nun, sympathetically, "children need stability in their lives. If Marisa gets along well here would you consider allowing her to stay? I do not exaggerate when I say that we are one of the finest boarding schools in Tuscany. Since we are subsidized by the Holy Church our fees are very reasonable."

"That's a kind offer" responded Elio, "but I prefer to have my daughter close as I travel. Perhaps it is selfish of me, but since the passing of her mother I am reluctant to send Marisa away for very long."

"I understand" Mother Ursula replied, "I'm very sorry to hear about your dear wife. I am sure she looks down from Heaven and smiles upon the care you show for Marisa."

The two had by then reached her office. As the Mother Superior invited Alboreto to be seated he appraised the furniture. Mother Ursula's handmade desk was a bit smaller than it should have been, and she sat upon a tall chair, the effects combining to give the nun a false illusion of great size. By contrast the wooden guest chairs were very large...reasonably comfortable for a man of Elio's size, but any young girl would have felt tiny and helpless, unable to even touch the ground in such a chair. The old spy grinned as he recognized the psychological tactic as one that Hitler & Stalin had both used to cow their underlings. It made Elio remember his own childhood school...being an incorrigible fighter he'd spent plenty of time in the office of his old headmaster.

"Alicia Simoncini..." began the old nun, opening a file, "...such a quiet, shy child...it is unbelievable to me that her family could be tied up in such unpleasant business as a terrorism trial."

"It is through no fault of her father that they are in this situation" corrected Elio, "by all accounts he is a law abiding contract attorney who just happened to have some business with the Maribaldi Construction Group. When Georgio Maribaldi was murdered in Paris..."

"Assassinated, some say" commented the nun. Elio was caught off guard by that...after all it was Marisa who had done the deed. The nun had managed to crack his calm demeanor and elicit a look of surprise from him. Luckily, Mother Ursula drew the wrong conclusion from his response. "Don't look so shocked, Mr. Alboreto, we read the papers, we watch television, we are not a cloistered order." She motioned toward an A.C. Siena scarf hanging on the wall in a position of honor near the Pope "I happen to be an enthusiastic football fan."

"Not Fiorentina?" asked Elio, using soccer draw her away from the topic of assassinations.

"They're alright..." she confessed, "...but most of the Sisters who serve under me are Fiorentina supporters, so I intentionally back a weaker squad. It allows them a modicum of satisfaction when their team gets one over on the boss' team. I'm sure you understand the importance of that, Mr. Alboreto, said you were in government service, you must have had people under your command."

_Damn, this woman would have made one hell of a spy_, considered Elio with admiration. Her subtle furniture tricks, her manipulative personnel management, the way she fished for information. Elio had never actually _told_ her he'd been in government service, just that most people offering private sector security once were. Now if he did not deny it she would have her information. He decided to let her have the point without protest, but resolved to be on his guard against Mother Ursula. Marisa would have to be warned..._use caution around this woman_.

"A wise tactic" Alboreto commented on her football choices. "Returning to Signore Simoncini ...when Maribaldi _died_ his financial accounts fell into disarray, and it was then that Alicia's father was tasked with more work for the construction group. Georgio covered his tracks well, but his successors were sloppy, and Simoncini noticed irregularities that led to known members of the Five Republics Faction. He did the right thing, and alerted police, but placed his family at risk when he did so."

"That is where you come in" said Mother Ursula.

"Indeed" he replied, "Mr. Simoncini, his wife, and infant son are already in protective custody, but it was decided that Alicia should remain at school to shield her from the publicity circus. We do not have any specific intelligence that she is at risk, but the public prosecutor wished to take no chances. Carlo Simoncini will testify & I will remain to oversee security here until the trial is over."

The nun smiled. "It is a great blessing to have a professional like you helping us. I pray your stay with us is uneventful." She crossed herself again.

"As do I" added Elio.

Mother Ursula changed the subject; "There is the matter of your daughter's classes. May I ask, are you Catholic?"

"We are not." Elio answered honestly. It would have been useless to lie to her, even a novice nun would see right through such fakery.

"I see" she muttered, disapproval evident in her voice, "Marisa will not be the only student from a non-Catholic family...religion & catechism classes are not compulsory."

"I will discuss the option with my daughter" he replied. "Regardless of personal beliefs any educated person should have a scholastic knowledge of Biblical history & philosophy, so it is possible that Marisa will join you for those classes." That seemed to please the old nun.

* * *

After meeting a few of the senior Sisters, Elio was shown to a modest but comfortable visitor's apartment in the administrative building. It had a fireplace which sat idle, and like all rooms at the Academy, a portrait of the current Pope. The rest of the decorations were the work of the older art students, who were surprisingly talented. Elio had a good look around. Although he did not expect to find any listening devices the old spy performed his sweep of the room out of sheer habit.

Before long Sister Amata knocked softly on the door and entered, still holding Marisa by the hand. The young cyborg gave her handler a scowl that could curdle blood. "Doesn't she look _adorable_?" commented the smiling nun, shifting both of her hands to Marisa's shoulders. She was outfitted in a white blouse with a stiffly starched collar and striped necktie, under the regulation blue-green plaid jumper that all the girls wore. The outfit was completed by tall, dark blue socks & brown loafers. The girl's arms where laden with her "civilian" clothes, and several more folded uniforms.

"Very nice" replied Elio with a smile that just aggravated his trainee more. Sister Amata took her leave, and the fratello was at last alone to discuss the next step. "You really _do_ look nice." Alboreto tried to compliment, but Marisa was not in the mood.

"Oh yeah...don't I look _adorable_? Aren't I _cute_?" she growled, "And guess what...I didn't even crush that giggling nitwit's skull! Aren't you proud of me?"

"Very" he replied, but the girl was not done. "Do you want to see the worst part?" She deposited her pile of clothes on a table with a dull thump that reminded Elio she still had her side-arm. "Look at these…" she protested, waving a pair of plain white panties like a handkerchief, "...regulation underwear! We are part of a top secret para-military special forces unit and I don't even have regulation underwear there!"

"Okay, I've seen enough" he muttered, motioning for her to put them down. "We have to get down to business. Switch to English, okay? These walls might have ears."

They both spoke English well (although Marisa had an Irish accent that nobody could explain) so it was a seamless transition from Italian.

"The nuns need your choice of classes before nightfall."

Marisa was suspicious; "I get to _choose_ my classes?"

"Not really" sighed her handler, "I have Alicia Simoncini's schedule there, I want you in all of her classes. The Mother Superior told me religion & catechism are optional. Does Alicia take those?"

Mari read down the list and replied "Yes."

"Then you do too," he instructed, with a sympathetic smile, "sorry." He took a deep breath and added something he knew his student would not like; "I'll also need to take your Beretta."

"What!? You can't be serious...we're on a _mission_!"

"We can't risk one of the nuns or the other girls seeing it," explained her handler. He was conscious of the added strain being _weaponless_ put on all the cyborgs, so he added "you can keep your piano wire and a _small_ knife as long as you keep them hidden."

Marisa fished the 92FS out of her motorcycle jacket and held it like a normal girl would hold a favorite stuffed toy. "Elio, please...I'll keep it really well hidden..."

"Call me Papa while we're on the mission," he reminded, "and sorry kiddo...direct order, give me your pistol, I'll take good care of it." Her hands trembled as she removed the magazine and checked the chamber out of habit (they never kept a round chambered while riding on the motorcycle) before surrendering the weapon to her master. Marisa did not own a single doll or stuffed animal, but she owned a 9mm pistol and parting with it felt like saying goodbye to an old & trusted friend.

Elio was quick to get the Beretta out of sight so his student would not brood over it. "You'll have it back as soon as we're done here. What you need to do now is make friends with this Alicia girl. Pal around with her and keep an eye out for anything shady. Don't let her know what you're really doing though. I've arranged for you to be assigned to her dorm room."

Marisa took a deep breath and nodded. She had gotten through the first few hours, but he hard part was just beginning.

* * *

Mari's first day of normal-girl school began too early. She wiped sleepy tears from her eyes as the obnoxious sound of a bell rang in her sensitive ears.

She'd moved into a room with 3 other girls; Alicia Simoncini was in the bottom bunk right underneath her. All the girls greeted her and introduced themselves politely, but none of them had made an attempt to talk to her after that. They all set about studying, but since Marisa had not been issued her schoolbooks yet she was left to thumb through her little black "Lifetime things-to-do list." That got boring _quick_. "Attend normal school" was not on the list, but she penciled it in anyway and immediately crossed it off as accomplished.

The next day began at 6:30am, with a loud nun ringing an even louder bell; announcing that it was time to get up. The other 3 girls got up silently, brushed their teeth and slipped into their uniforms, which they'd thoughtfully laid out the evening before. Marisa had not thought that far ahead, so she had to scramble to get her clothes ready & as a consequence was the last to join the double-file queue of girls in the hallway. That earned her a scowl from the bleary eyed wake up nun who had exchanged her hand-bell for a long stick. Worse, she was a long way from Alicia Simoncini, the girl she was supposed to be protecting...not a good start to the mission.

The girls were marched across morning-wet grass to a chapel that stood separate from the school buildings. The presence of a few old "civilian" ladies and 2 boys serving at the alter told Marisa that this church was open to the public. _This is a security risk_, she recognized, resolving to brief Elio when she next saw him.

There was a clear hierarchy to the seating arrangement in the pews. Novice nuns sat in front, and behind them the local ladies from the village. Next were the oldest students, girls the age of Petrushka & Kara. The classes were arranged in order of seniority, with girls even younger than Marisa in the back, which meant nobody but the oldest girls had a good view of the priest when he came out a performed Mass.

Several stern faced Sisters patrolled the pews where the students sat, poking their charges or thwacking the occasional ear when the girl's whispered or their attention otherwise wandered. Marisa discovered a distinct disadvantage to being last in line for her age group, as it put her in the last seat of her pew, next to the aisle & fully exposed to the vigilant nuns. This made it difficult to scan the chapel for threats, but Mari's exceptional cyborg hearing warned her of the rearward approach of even the stealthiest nun.

Following Mass the girls marched to breakfast, which was far less lavish than the buffet at the SWA dining hall. Still, Marisa was starving, so she ate heartily, consuming a banana, a half grape-fruit, and a big bowl of oatmeal that gave her a strange feeling of déjà vu. It was in the cafeteria that she caught a glimpse of her boss. Elio was seated with the Sisters on a dais overlooking the students. She made no attempt to contact him; they had arranged last night to meet at lunch, when the girls had more time & freedom to socialize. Elio conversed with the nuns casually, but even with her super ears Mari could not hear what he was saying over the chatter of the other girls. Seeing her handler smile and talk to _any_ woman, even a nun, made Marisa grit her teeth. _Focus on the mission_ she reminded herself.

Classes came next, and that really wasn't much different from classes at the SWA compound. Instead of Mr. Hillshire reading boring passages of literature it was a nun. Mathematics was just like at home...the class moved much slower than the numbers in Mari's mind, so her attention wandered. Any time a nun called her name and accused her of not paying attention she rattled off the answer to her question casually & correctly. After a few of those the Sister just left Marisa alone, something Miss Priscilla had learned ages ago.

Art class at the Academy was far more exciting than Mr. Croce's DVD videos...in addition to learning about classical art the girls were permitted to paint, draw & sculpt for themselves, a totally unexplored concept for Marisa.

While the young cyborg had extraordinary senses she observed the nuns employing a few tricks of their own. They seemed to have eyes in the back of their head, and could catch misbehavior from their students even when writing on the black-board. After a few demonstrations Marisa caught on...they were watching the class in the reflections of the ubiquitous portraits of the Pope. Elio had warned her of this tactic, he said he'd seen it in a movie starring Meryl Streep, an American actress who Mari had never heard of, but her handler spoke of with a reverence that made the jealous cyborg seethe.

In every class she kept a sharp eye on Alicia, but that wasn't very exciting. She was a shy, quiet girl who only spoke to her room-mates and never did anything unexpected. It was going to be hard to get her foot in the door with Miss Simoncini, and boring to remain friends with her.

That Monday passed quickly. Marisa had lunch with Elio, tersely discussing business in English...she was careful to remind him of the threat the public chapel posed. As she finished her dessert, a cup of fresh strawberries & vanilla yoghurt, Elio asked her "How are _you_ doing? You know, with the Sisters, with the other girls?"

"Okay I guess" she muttered, not telling the whole truth.

Her boss recognized the uncertainty in her voice. "You _guess_?"

"Well, yeah..." replied the conflicted cyborg, reluctant but eager to talk at the same time, "...I mean...the nuns are okay as long as I know where they are at all times, which is usually not a problem with my senses. One of them really spooked me in art class when I got kinda focused on a drawing I was doing of Miss Simoncini and she snuck up on me." It had only been harmless Sister Amata, but Marisa shivered at the memory nonetheless.

"If you're going to make friends with her you can't keep calling her _Miss Simoncini_."

"Right, El...I mean, Papa." She continued; "The 'making friends' part is harder. It feels like my first week at the SWA dorm...I really need to find a way to reach out and make a bond with Miss Sim...Alicia...like I did with the girls back home."

Elio groaned, only half-jokingly "Oh jeeze, Marisa, if you decide to crash another van I swear..."

She giggled. "No...I think I'd rather not go through a week of scrubbing pots again!"

"You think you only get a _week_ for a second offense?" Elio warned, but his tone was humorous. "You're doing really well...I'm sure you'll figure this out."

"Thanks boss...I mean, Papa." A bell rang and Marisa stood up. "Gotta go...science class next."

* * *

After breakfast with the nuns Elio had spent his morning hiking around the perimeter of the compound. It would be easy to defend, there were only two gates, only one could admit a car, the other was just a walking path that led from the village to the chapel where Marisa had attended Mass. Beyond the tall wrought-iron fence was a thick forest...easy to sneak through but impossible get a car through. If there was to be a kidnapping attempt it would surely involve a vehicle.

Next Alboreto walked to the main gate to speak with the Carabinieri officers whose attitude had not impressed him the previous day. They were not there, and he would later find out that they had only been there until _he_ arrived, and afterward had returned to their barracks. _Just as well_, he thought. He had not discounted the possibility that the officers were PRF sympathizers that could be a threat. Elio was happier now that he had total control of the gate.

Most of the Sisters were helpful when he asked for a list of every delivery truck that visited during a given week. They were less enthusiastic when he decreed that all deliveries must now be scheduled, and no truck would get onto the campus without his personal inspection.

The wide lawns were already wired with motion sensors, which, as the nuns explained, had been installed to put the damper on after-hours shenanigans and infiltration by local boys rather than to prevent a serious attack by terrorists. The motion detector units were simple, inexpensive units, but the wiring was good so it would be easy to swap the units for higher-performance models, and even a few video cameras. Elio put in a quick call to headquarters and Ferro told him she would have Nihad bring all the equipment he requested tomorrow afternoon. With every fratello deployed her team seemed to be driving 24 hours a day to support them. "Thanks, Ferro" he teased "I knew I shouldn't believe all that nasty stuff the other guys say about you."

"Very funny, Mr. A." she retorted, "How is Marisa doing with the nuns?"

"Pretty well so far," Elio replied "I'll talk to her at lunch."

"You know…we've got a betting pool set up back here at HQ," she admitted, "I've got 20 euros on her throwing a nun through a plate-glass window before this is over."

"Harsh!" he laughed, "Let me guess, you went to Catholic school?" A _deeply_ disturbing image of the stoic policewoman in a little plaid jumper & knee socks crossed his mind.

"Only from 5 years old up to college" Ferro groaned, "You tell Marisa to give 'em hell for me, okay?"

"Sure..." Elio told her, "...now I know why you're so fucked up."

"Look who's talking, Mr. A."

* * *

After Alboreto had finished his lunch meeting with his cyborg he found himself cornered by the crafty Mother Ursula. "Signore Alboreto, do you have a moment?"

"Of course" he replied, standing courteously to offer her the seat Marisa had just vacated. "Do you have concerns about my security inspection?"

"No, I wished to speak about your daughter..." the old nun told him. _Oh brother, what has she done now?_ crossed Elio's mind. But Mari had done nothing wrong; "I can not help but notice that you have placed Marisa in all of Alicia Simoncini's classes. Sir, if Miss Simoncini is in danger, are you not placing your own daughter in the direct line of that danger?"

_This woman does not miss a thing,_ observed the old spy. He wondered if she might even suspect Marisa was the _real_ bodyguard...although there was no way the nun could possibly be aware of the existence of cyborgs. "Making their schedules identical _was_ intentional;" he admitted, "in the unlikely event there is an attack, or a kidnapping attempt, my concern will be for _both_ girls. It is therefore easier for me if they are both in the same place."

The Mother Superior considered that and replied "I can see the wisdom in that. Tell me, Mr. Alboreto, if there is any...unpleasantness, does your daughter play a role in your plan?"

"The most minor of roles" Elio lied to her, "she carries a transmitter with a _panic button_ that connects directly to my cellular telephone. If I do not answer her within 20 seconds the system assumes I am incapacitated & sends an emergency alert to my office in Rome. I can track Marisa's transmitter with my phone, and my office can track both the transmitter and my phone." He was impressed by his own imaginary system...perhaps he should talk to the fellows in the special weapons department about making it a reality...especially after the tragic Donatello incident in Milan.

The nun seemed impressed, but was not distracted from her original question; "So if there is an attack, what are your instructions to your daughter?"

Again he lied; "Activate the transmitter, obey the instructions of the Sisters until I arrive, but stay near Alicia unless your own safety is in jeopardy." With a nod Mother Ursula showed her acceptance, but not necessarily her approval.

* * *

That night in the dorm Marisa made her first attempt to make personal contact with Alicia Simoncini. She remembered a trick Alessandro had shown her. "_When you want to open up a conversation with somebody, ask them for help with something __they__ are good at. That way they feel as if they're in a position of power, and being more relaxed they'll open up easier._" Trouble was, Marisa watched Alicia for a whole hour before seeing something she was good at.

"Hey Alicia?" she finally asked. The shy girl almost jumped out of her skin when Mari spoke to her. "Umm...I saw all you girls lay tomorrow's uniform out, could you show me how to do it?"

"W-well, sure...it's not hard" Alicia replied in a very soft voice. "You just pick out one of everything you need and drape them over the rail at the foot of your bed."

"Only one sock?" joked Mari, but the other girl just looked at her dully. _Great, no sense of humor either_.

Alicia continued to instruct the red-pigtailed new girl in the finer points of laying out her clothes. "Make sure not to wrinkle your blouse, or fold your collar, the Sisters don't like that."

"You're so good at this!" Marisa faked enthusiasm. Sucking up to this timid creature wore on her patience, but she would do it for Elio & the mission. "This will save so much time in the morning!"

"Yeah..." Simoncini replied gravely, "...you don't want to be last again and get whacked. You got lucky this morning because you're new." Mari didn't know what that meant, but heaven help the nun who dared whack a cyborg. _Mission or not, some nun is gonna get whacked back a lot harder than she gives out!_

While she fantasized about clobbering nuns Marisa lost focus and her conversation with Alicia Simoncini slipped away. The shy girl, already in her regulation nightgown, had crawled into bed and was writing in her diary. All the cyborg could see was Alicia's back and her dull black hair. "_Damn_," thought the cyborg, "_alright, decent start, one step at a time._" Mari climbed up into her top bunk and went to work on her biology homework.

When the wake up nun rang the bell at 6:30 the next morning Marisa was ready. The cyborg had her teeth brushed before her room-mates, and even had to sand-bag a little getting dressed so she didn't get a spot in line too far ahead of Alicia. They exited the room together and Mari slid into line right behind her charge. _A much better start today!_

The unfortunate last in line this morning was a blonde girl with a lopsided pony-tail who had overslept and came stumbling out of her room, struggling with a shoe. Once the wake up nun (a different Sister from the one who had done the task yesterday) had finished her head-count she signaled the lead pair of girls to begin the march to Mass. As the tail end of the line passed her she delivered a firm whack of her stick to the seat of the unlucky blonde girl's skirt. Being further ahead in line Marisa did not see this, but she heard the sound, and the yelp that followed it left no doubt as to what the custom was...get up on time, get ready quickly, last one in line gets an unpleasant reminder to be faster next time. Mari was glad she had been spared yesterday; if some nun had whacked her unexpectedly she probably would have ripped the woman's arm off and blown the mission.

* * *

Despite her good start Marisa had little extra progress to report to Elio at lunch. "Alicia's a nightmare!" complained the cyborg, in English, "I tried like...5 times today to crack her shell but she's impossible. She's shy, she's afraid of everything, she isn't good at anything. I complimented her on the clay sculpture she was working on in art class and even the teacher looked at me like I had a screw loose!"

Elio was at a loss to help so he stalled; "Many great artists are not appreciated until the right person comes along & recognizes their genius...Picasso, Gauguin, Melville. Maybe you just have a good eye for exceptional art."

"No," Marisa replied flatly, "it really _was_ awful. It was supposed to be a puppy but it looked like a lumpy sausage on pegs."

"Well, keep at it, okay?" said Elio, "The trial starts tomorrow so we want to be up to full effectiveness by then. I'll get the campus ready, you just get as close to Miss Simoncini as you can." He took a look at his wristwatch and said "Nihad is going to be here in a few hours with some more gear, including mini 2-way radios for us. We'll have a constant link while the trial is going on."

"Cool!" she said with a smile. The high technology spy stuff always excited the cyborgs, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the fact that they themselves were technology. "Do you two need any help setting up the new gear? I have 2 hours this afternoon that I can't be around Alicia."

Elio looked displeased; "Why not?" he asked.

"She got detention for not finishing her math's homework" explained Mari, taking a bite of her garlic mashed potato's "I know exactly where she'll be and she's not going anywhere for 2 hours."

"Alicia got detention?" he muttered, with a look that made his trainee worry, "Then you _know_ what you have to do."

"Oh, no...no! Eli...I-I mean Papa, you _can't_ be serious!" she protested "Don't make me do this...please!?"

"Sorry kiddo, we're here to do a job" the boss sighed "you'll just have to _take one for the team_."

Poor Marisa slumped in her chair and pushed the rest of her lunch tray away. "I guess I didn't finish my homework today _either_."

**_________Breakthrough_________**

The granite faced Sister Theresa ruled over her detention room. 12 students, including Alicia & Marisa were consigned there for various offenses, permitted only to read their Bibles or catechism workbooks for the 2 hour sentence. As Mari did not own a Bible, and catechism did not interest her she could only take the 3rd option, which was to look straight ahead and be silent. Being in possession of hyper-sensitive vision, hearing, smell, and touch this was an almost unendurable torment for the young cyborg. She could analyze every crease in the nun's stolid face, she could hear every girl's breathing. The perfume of a student across the room (forbidden at the academy, it was how that girl had fallen into trouble) assaulted Mari's nostrils, and she could feel footsteps of freedom in the hall outside as vibrations through her desk. Bombarded by all these sensations the seconds dragged on like hours.

Twice Marisa had allowed her attention to wander, and received a sharp word of warning from Sister Theresa, "Eyes to the front!" With a frustrated sigh, Mari complied. _The things I do for the mission,_ she thought, _betcha Triela never had to sit in detention guarding some limp dish-rag of a girl. No...Triela & Petra got to go hang out with rock stars this week!_ Alicia was seated in a row behind her, but cyborg hearing made her easy to keep tabs on. Simoncini was breathing softly through her mouth, turning the coarse pages of her catechism book, easy to distinguish from the crinkle of thin Bible pages.

A white blob appeared on the fringe of Marisa's peripheral vision, so she adjusted her focal width to see it without turning her head. Outside the window was a van, identical to the one she, Rico & Henrietta had crashed into Claes' garden. _Nihad must be here already_. Adding a further aspect to the psychological torture that was detention, none of the students were allowed to know what time it was. The ticking wall clock was covered, and all the girls had been required to deposit their wristwatches on the nun's desk. Mari wondered if Nihad was early & if Elio knew of his arrival. The question was answered when she caught a glimpse of her handler, smiling and shaking hands with the towering African agent.

"Marisa Alboreto!" snapped Sister Theresa. When she had seen Elio, Mari let her focus wander and turned her head to stare out the window...she snapped back to _eyes forward_ at the sound of the nun's voice, but it would not be enough this time. "You have had your two warnings! Approach the desk." The cyborg had no idea what that meant, but the gasps and nervous whispers of the other girls told her it was nothing to look forward to. The Sister silenced all noise with a sharp rap of her ruler on the desk.

Mari strode to the front defiantly. Stretching her legs actually felt good after an infinity of sitting in a hard wooden chair, and _what is the worst this nun could do? _She immediately retracted that thought...the Sister could obviously sentence her to more of this wearisome bondage.

It was not extended detention that Marisa faced though. "Hold out your right hand!" commanded Sister Theresa, in a booming voice that renewed the gasps from Marisa's 11 fellow captives. With a shrug of her shoulders, she complied. Drawing the moment out with theatrical flourish the nun lifted her ruler, paused with it in the air, and sent it whistling down onto Mari's unprotected open palm. The loud snap echoed through the room and even into the hallway, but the cyborg felt no more than if a playing card had dropped into her hand.

Undaunted, Sister Theresa let 2 more blows fall, eliciting absolutely no response from the girl. She strengthened her resolve, and delivered the next pair of strikes even harder, but Marisa only gave her a bored stare. The nun went red in the face and lost her temper, delivering the last blow much harder than she knew she should. It would have broken the bones of an ordinary child, but to the young cyborg it barely tickled.

The defeated Sister seethed...she was out of shape and the exercise made her sweat & pant out loud. Rather than being reduced to sobbing contrition, Marisa Alboreto stood before her with a self-satisfied smirk. When it became obvious that Sister Theresa was done she dropped her right hand to her side...and offered the left. "Return to your seat" growled the nun. Marisa followed the instruction, but as soon as she was seated she looked straight out the window in an act of blatant defiance. By this time Nihad, the van, and Elio were all gone.

* * *

When word of the incident reached Elio that evening he was furious, and practically dragged old Sister Theresa into the Mother Superior's office. After loudly reminding them that striking any student was illegal in Italy he explained to them that a man in his vocation had _many_ friends in law enforcement, the public prosecutor's office, and even Europol. "Furthermore," he warned "one more incidentand I will stir up a public media shit-storm that will ensure no parent ever sends their daughter to this school again."

Sister Theresa quailed at his rage and crossed herself often. Even the confident Mother Ursula was noticeably affected. "Mr. Alboreto, we have a different standard at this Academy" she tried to calm him "W-we follow God's law..." She placed her hand on an old Bible for emphasis.

"Tell it to a judge" he growled, "You call it _God's law..._Proverbs 22:15 or whatever other line you want to pull out of your ass...my good friend Public Prosecutor Guellfi will call it child abuse." He stretched the truth there...Elio had never actually met Roberta Guellfi, but he knew she was friendly to the SWA. "We'll see who wins in court and in public opinion." The threat worked...the 2 nuns were silent. They may have feared God above all, but Elio Alboreto moved closer to the top of their list that afternoon.

"We're done here" he growled, "have Marisa sent to the visitor's apartment."

* * *

By the time Marisa arrived her handler had calmed down a little. "I'm very sorry that happened, Mari. Believe me; I made sure those damn nuns know I will drag them over the coals if it ever happens again."

The red haired cyborg gave a sly grin and replied, "That's a bluff, of course."

_Clever lass..._"Yes" sighed Elio, "we can't endanger the mission by making a big deal about _anything_. I'm sorry."

"I understand, it's for the mission" she said. In Alboreto's opinion Marisa was taking this unbelievably well.

He got her to sit down on the couch next to him. "How are you doing, anyway?"

"Well," she admitted, "now I have another reason to hate nuns...but I'm okay. You know that old lady can't hurt me physically no matter how hard she tries."

"Don't try to act tough just to make me feel better about it. Cyborgs can feel pain."

She laughed. "I can take a lot more than Sister Theresa can dish out. But anyway, it turned out to be a good thing, wait until you hear what happened after all that nonsense."

Marisa proceeded to tell Elio about the last few hours. Once they had been released from detention Alicia Simoncini actually _initiated_ a conversation herself. "Marisa, you were so brave, I can't believe how you stood up to mean old Sister Theresa!"

"It was nothing..." Mari had replied, stalling for time. The shock of Alicia coming to _her_ made the cyborg forget all the lessons Elio, Alessandro, and the other handlers had taught her.

Alicia fawned over her room-mate, "You're too modest! I start crying if a Sister even scolds me a little. You took 6 whacks of the wooden ruler and never even flinched! I wish I could be tough like you..."

_An opening!_ announced a voice in Mari's head that sounded like Mr. Rissi, _Pounce on it, now, before it slips away!_ "Sure you can be tough!" said Marisa, tossing her arm around her charge, "We'll just stick together and before long not even Mother Superior will dare say a cross word to us!"

Alicia hopped in place excitedly and threw her arms around Marisa. "Do you really mean it!?" She hugged her new friend lightly. _Jeeze, even this girl's hugs are weak & limp._ Marisa had no idea how she was ever going to teach Miss Simoncini how to be brave & tough..._one step at a time_.

Elio was pleased. "Good work" he praised her, getting up to cross the room and fetch the radio Nihad had brought for her "you took a bad situation and turned it to your advan...oh, _jeeze_ Mari, what in blazes are you doing? Cut that out!" He had turned in time to see his trainee leaning over on the couch with one knee raised up; left hand up her skirt scratching her butt in the most un-ladylike fashion.

"I can't help it!" she snapped, "This damn jumper itches like _mad_!"

**______________Laundry, Courage & Evil________________**

There was a soft knock at the door of the visitor's apartment. "Laundry truck at the front gate, Mr. Alboreto" announced a short rotund nun who always seemed to have a smile on her chubby pink face.

"Thank you Sister" he replied, putting down the remote control for the new video cameras. He walked outside and hopped on a borrowed bicycle, the quickest way to get down to the front gate. "Good afternoon Signore Kolikos." he greeted the bald headed Greek laundry man, "will you open your back doors please."

"Certainly Signore Alboreto..." he tried to impress the new security man by remembering his name, "Claudio, Franco, open the doors and let Signore check the bags!"

"Claudio? Excuse me, who is Claudio?" challenged Alboreto, scanning down his list quickly, "The two helpers you brought yesterday were Franco & your son Mika."

The mustachioed Greek man threw up his hands and complained "Young men...they have so much to do more important than work, I am lucky to get any help these days! I have different helpers every day, you know?"

"Mister Kolikos, I explained to you on Tuesday that I need to conduct a background check on every one of your employees before they can be allowed unescorted access to the compound."

"Ach! Was never like this before...what can I do?!" he grumbled.

Elio left the bicycle next to the gate and said "I'll need to stay with you while you're on the campus." He allowed Mr. Kolikos to bring his van through the gate, then locked it and hopped inside for the ride to the service entrance of the school. It was an inconvenient waste of time in the middle of his day. All the food delivery drivers, plus the electrician seemed to have no problem following the new, _temporary_, security rules, but this local laundry service owner complained about the inconvenience time he passed the gate.

For the next 45 minutes Alboreto waited while the clean laundry bags were unloaded, inventoried, and routed to their respective dormitory wards. Loading the dirty laundry...the girls' uniforms, the nun's habits, plus tablecloths & bed linens went quicker, and Elio even pitched in a hand to expedite the malodorous task. _The things I do for this job_, he thought _Vic Hillshire &_ _Sandro Rissi are hanging out with rock-stars this week..._

* * *

Out on the main lawn Alicia & Marisa lounged in the narrow band of shade afforded by a Tuscan Cypress tree, munching on apples that had had been the reward of Alicia's first successful "mission."

"I want you to sneak into the cafeteria and get us two red apples." Marisa instructed a quivering Alicia.

She protested, "But it's after lunch & not even dinner time!" She had never even set foot in the cafeteria outside of established meal hours, and did not believe it was even allowed.

"Live a little" Mari replied, "just slip in like you're supposed to be there and grab us each a piece of fruit. If they don't have apples anything will do, just slip in and slip out...your mission is to go un-noticed."

"What does sneaking around have to do with being brave?"

"Hey, who's the expert here?" Marisa chided her, "Would you rather just walk right into the kitchen and demand..."

"No!" exclaimed Simoncini, "I'll sneak, I'll sneak!"

Marisa, the living, breathing, stealth weapon who could (_and had_) cut a grown man's head off with piano wire, shook her head and rolled her eyes as she oversaw the dreadful exercise. The dining room was empty save for the old Mother Superior, who was engrossed in her newspaper, but Alicia crept in like a movie spy trying to avoid the whole enemy army. She hid under a table, and snuck her way to the buffet counter where a huge, inviting bowl of assorted fruits waited. Marisa knew perfectly well that this had been placed there specifically to provide a healthy snack for the students between meal times, but her somewhat slow-witted trainee was treating it like the crime of the century. _One step at a time,_ thought the cyborg with a sigh.

Simoncini bumped into a chair, toppling it over with an echoing clatter. She looked to Marisa, eyes wide with terror, but the red haired girl just motioned to _keep going!_ Mother Ursula looked from her football scores and smiled...watching the whole game and thinking it was very cute. _So Miss Simoncini has finally made a friend...pity that Alboreto girl won't be staying long._

Alicia's nerve finally broke...she dashed from her hiding place under the table, grasped the two best looking apples, and ran out of the dining room as fast as her loafers would carry her. "I did it!" she panted, her brow sweating and her cheeks pink with the flush of victory.

"You did great" congratulated Marisa, chewing a bite of her apple under the shade of the cypress tree, "I told you that you could be brave. By this time next week I'll show you how to drive Mr. Kolikos' delivery van!" The black-haired girl giggled, and Marisa was glad she knew it was only a joke. As she has spoken that line her eyes caught Elio pedaling a bicycle up the drive-way, returning from letting the laundry van out & was glad he did not possess her super-cyborg hearing.

"It felt really scary...but it was exciting when I finally got away!" chortled Alicia, "But I'm still not brave like you are."

"Being brave is something you have to learn" said Marisa, but she didn't have much to add to that. She had never _learned_ to be brave, she had been utterly fearless as long as she could remember...as long as the situation did not involve nuns, and frankly, she was beginning to feel pretty confident in her ability to deal with _them_ too. _Cyborgs are built to be brave_, she considered, _we don't __have__ a choice._

Luckily Alicia made the next move; "I bet you learned it from your Daddy. He's _very_ brave."

The young cyborg smiled and sighed "Yes...yes he is."

"My Daddy isn't brave" she sighed, the color slowly seeping from her cheeks, "our family took a holiday to Rome last Christmas, and a man pulled out a knife on us. He wanted Daddy's wallet and his wristwatch...and he just _gave_ them to him! We had to telephone Grand-Papa for more money just to pay for our hotel. Daddy's watch belonged to _his_ Grand-Papa." Close to crying, Alicia plucked at the grass underneath her and conjectured "I'll bet your Daddy wouldn't just give a bad man all his money and his precious gold watch."

Marisa was saddened and angered by her new friend's story. If _she_ had been there she'd have taken that mugger's skull as a trophy without breaking a sweat...but she couldn't tell Alicia that. Luckily, a deep, rumbling voice saved her, "I think your Father is a _very_ brave man." It was Elio. _How the heck can he sneak up on me like that?_ thought Mari, wiggling a finger in her cybernetic ear to check that it was working. "Alicia, your Father worked very hard to earn his money, and I'm sure he treasured his Grandfather's heirloom watch, but when he had to make a choice he decided to protect something that was more important to him." Elio sat down on the grass so he could look both girls in the eye. "He made a sacrifice, and sacrifice is more than just bravery...it is courage."

Alicia gave a big sniffle, and continued to stare at the grass that she picked at. "Mother Superior says you're here to protect me because Daddy got involved with some bad men."

"They told me that too," Alboreto told her, "but they don't know everything. Your Father was doing an honest job for dishonest people. When he discovered that those people were giving money to terrorists he had a big choice to make. He knew making those bad folks angry would put him, and his whole family, in terrible danger, but if he didn't tell the police, those villains and their dirty money would just keep hurting innocent people. He might have to make a terrible sacrifice...his own life and everyone he loves, but your Father was courageous enough to go to the police and save other people, even strangers, from suffering."

Marisa knew all about Carlo Simoncini and the Maribaldi Construction Group trial, but hearing Elio tell the story made her choke up with feelings of admiration. It was one thing to face the fearsome Padania with the awesome powers of a cybernetic body and a deadly super-agent by your side, but Alicia's Papa was just a humble man who could not even save his wristwatch a street mugger, yet he dared to sit in a courtroom and stare down ferocious terrorists.

The grey-haired man reached his hand out and gently lifted Alicia's chin so she looked into his eyes. "I respect the courage of your Father very much," he told her, "he doesn't use a gun or a knife, but if everyone was brave like him the bad people would have no money, no guns, no knives, and they could never hurt innocent people again." Mari reflected on her handler's words...they were eerily similar to what Claes had said about Mr. Ramsey the SWA groundskeeper..._if the world were made up of generous people like him there would be no need for people like __us__._ If Evil is the offspring of hate & greed then fear & apathy are certainly his nursemaids...

There was no evil in the glistening eyes of the black-haired girl. Miss Simoncini wiped a single tear away and said "Thank you Mr. Alboreto."

"Your welcome," replied the man, "but you should remember to thank him."

Just then a gang of school-girls ran up to them. One spoke for the group; "Marisa, some of us are playing handball in the courtyard, will you come?" Although none of the 3 sitting in the cypress shade knew it yet, Mari's defiance against the tyranny of the nuns was the talk of the school.

The cyborg looked to her handler, who smiled and said, "Give me those apple cores; I'll throw them away for you." He also whispered, in a voice so quiet he knew only Mari's cyborg ears could pick it up "_Be careful...you could accidentally kill any one of these kids_."

Marisa took Alicia's wrist "Let's go!" she said, but the girl shied away.

"They didn't ask _me_ to come." she replied in a tremulous voice.

Marisa groaned, and carefully exerted a little power to drag Simoncini to her feet, "Come on, if they want me, then they get both of us." Alicia grinned more broadly than anyone had ever witnessed during all her days at the Rufina Academy.

As the pair jogged across the lawn to join the handball game Alicia said to Mari "If bad men really do come to the school your Daddy really can protect me, can't he?" It was more a statement of confidence than a question.

Marisa issued a wicked smile and replied "Sometimes, when you want to fight off demons, you need to get help from the devil himself!"

Alicia blushed and answered sweetly, "Well _I_ don't think your Daddy is the devil at all."_ More like a very scary angel._

**______________Celebrity________________**

Popularity was an addictive drug and Marisa _binged_ upon it.

Her brave stand against the nuns had made her the celebrity of the school, and even the older girls courted her favor. She was surrounded by new "friends" in the cafeteria that evening, and after dinner some of the girls practically got into fight over whose dorm room she would hang out in that evening. It was difficult to keep the mission in mind, but Mari reasoned that as long as Alicia Simoncini was at her side the girl remained safe.

For her part, Alicia was very uncomfortable with all the attention she and her no friend seemed to be getting...for the timid creature it was all too much, too soon, but she did not possess the nerve to speak up about it. At least there were plenty of girls fighting to help her with her homework (they actually argued over the right to help Marisa first, and the losers _trickled down_ to Alicia). She was actually pretty happy when bed-time came around and she could return to her comfort zone.

Marisa awoke early the next morning, eager to launch into a new day. She was already dressed before the wake up nun had finished rousing all of the other girls from their slumber. She carefully made sure to keep Alicia in tow, and got a prestigious with her spot near the front of the double-line. As they marched to Mass this Friday morning, and heard the crack of the nun's stick and pained yelp from the unlucky last girl in line Mari reflected on the wisdom of the nuns' custom. _Some normal girls obviously need a good reason to push themselves_ she thought, with the smug self assurance of a person on top of her world _after all, the same girl never gets it two days in a row, right?_

* * *

Elio caught up with his cyborg that afternoon as she dashed down the hallway, conspicuously without the girl she was supposed to be guarding. "Hey, slow down" he ordered, "I've been trying to raise you on the radio for an hour!"

"Sorry" she confessed breathlessly, "I took it out so I could hear better at choir practice, and forgot to pop it back in." She dug the flesh colored mini receiver from the pocket of her jumper & dutifully replaced it in her ear, then gave a quick check to the transmitter microphone hidden under her starched collar.

Alboreto raised his eyebrows in surprise and forgot to be angry at her. "Choir? You're singing now?"

"Ugh, it's been crazy..." she told him with a smile, "Art club, the school handball team, the bird-watchers club, they all want a piece of my time! It's a good thing we only have a half day of classes on Friday!"

"And _where_ is Miss Simoncini?"

"Waiting for me at the school newspaper office" Marisa assured her handler, "they want to interview me."

"Interview!?" he exclaimed, but calmed down quickly. _She is handling this well...trust her._ "Okay, okay, just remember every detail of our cover story...and no mention of diving, even for fun."

"You work in private security, Mom is dead, I like kittens, and I'm _totally_ not a cyborg assassin" she groaned, "I get it!"

He laughed. "Very funny. I'm glad you're having a good time just...be careful."

"I haven't left Alicia alone for more than 3 minutes all day..."

"That's not what I mean," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Be careful for yourself...you're on top of the world now but that's when things can come crashing down around you."

She sighed and told him "But I'm happy, Sir, I know I'm never going to be normal, but maybe I can just feel like I am for a little while, is there anything wrong with wanting that? I _swear_ I'm not losing focus on the mission!"

"No, there's nothing wrong with that at all" he conceded. But no normal girl is as popular as you are now, and when your time in the spot light is over I hope you don't get hurt."

"We'll be gone back home by then..." she muttered.

"Okay, so enjoy it while you can" he replied with a tinge of sadness in his voice. _She will just have to learn for herself_. "Now hurry, stay close to Alicia, stay in radio contact, and give a good interview for the newspaper."

As she rushed away her handler had to laugh. _Spartacus in knee socks...let's hope she doesn't get crucified._

**______________Saturday_______________**

"Mr. Alboreto, the laundry van is here!" announced the pink faced nun. It was always she who came to summon him & this time she didn't even knock. Elio was getting the distinct impression she was trying to catch him naked. With a chuckle, he considered giving her exactly what she wanted.

"Thank you, Sister." As soon as she had gone Elio keyed his radio. "Mari, I'm leaving the office."

A tinny but clear response; "Copy, Papa." _No static_..._these new radios are really good._

"I'll be down at the front gate letting the laundry van in."

"Copy. I'm in the courtyard with Alicia & the Chess Club. This game is boring."

He laughed; maybe if he explained to her that the game was based on a medieval battlefield she would begin to like chess. It was Saturday, and there had been no drama, despite the fact that Carlo Simoncini would be taking the witness stand on Monday morning. Things had settled into a routine...Marisa was still doing very well. She had given one hell of an interview for the school paper, truthfully reporting about all the cities she & _Papa_ had traveled to, even Paris (which had been very traumatic for her), without dropping even a hit of her true nature. _Won't the guys back at the office be disappointed when they __all__ lose the betting pool._ Since there were no classes today the girls were at their leisure to pursue extra-curricular activities, or just relax.

Elio bicycled down to the front gate to meet Mr. Kolikos, whom he knew would have to escort because he refused to bring the same helpers two days in a row. It didn't bother him today...he wasn't busy and it was a nice day to go outside. "Hello Signore Kolikos, who do you have with you today?"

"Good news Mr. Alboreto, sir!" announced the Greek, "I has Franco & Claudio again!"

"That changes nothing; you still haven't given me the background check info for Claudio so I have to escort you."

"Arrghhh, waste of your time and mine" complained Mr. Kolikos, although Elio was not sure how being escorted wasted the laundry man's time "you know Claudio, he's a good boy!" Claudio leaned forward from the back and gave Elio a stupid, toothy grin.

"Let's go" muttered the old spy, hopping in the back of the truck.

Since he had helped Kolikos and his boys once the crew expected help every time now, and Alboreto was roped into it. He could not recall a single one of the girls or nuns that smelled badly when taken as an individual, but when their dirty laundry was gathered all in one place it made for a thoroughly unpleasant task. Franco & Claudio didn't seem to enjoy working on a Saturday either, they were silent & sullen.

Sister Theresa rushed out onto the loading area where the 4 men worked, frantic tears in her eyes. "Mr. Alboreto, come quickly! Something _terrible_ has happened at the chapel!"

"What's going on?" he demanded of the normally stone faced nun.

"A fire" she reported, "at the very least...some people are talking of an explosion."

_This is a diversion._ Elio knew such things by instinct and years of experience. "Call the local police & fire brigade...and secure the students in the gymnasium!"

"You're not coming?" she exclaimed.

"It's an attack on Miss Simoncini...the fire at the church is only a distraction to get me away from the real target!"

Mother Ursula was next to arrive, equally panicked and breathless. "Did you tell him?"

"He will not go!" Sister Theresa cried out.

"I told you," snapped Elio, "this is a _diversion_! They're making the attack we feared soon, and I need to be here, not down at the chapel!" He needed to alert Marisa, now.

"Mister Alboreto" implored the Mother Superior, "people are injured, our Father among them, we _need_ your help. Please!" The nun, usually so strong and in control, desperately pleaded with her eyes.

With a groan, and the knowledge that he was being stupid, Elio relented. "Mr. Kolikos, you and your men will come with me!" It was the worst possible time to let them go unescorted.

"What about the laundry? I has work to do!" he complained. Franco & Claudio said nothing...maybe they were being paid by the hour and a delay would advantage them. "To hell with the laundry!" growled Alboreto, showing his ferocious, blasphemous side that made the 2 elderly nuns cross themselves. "Get your asses in that truck...give me a ride to the chapel!"

Griping all the way, Mr. Kolikos drove Elio where he needed to go. As they drove Elio keyed his radio. "Marisa, come in!"

"Copy Elio."

"The attack has started, repeat, the attack has started!"

"Do you need assistance?" she asked, desperate tension in her voice.

"Negative, secure the primary objective. There has been an incident at the chapel, fire, possibly a bomb."

Sure enough smoke issued from the open door of the church, and a crowd of people, mostly villagers were gathered outside tending to the injured. "Get a hose on that fire, damn it!" he ordered. The scene was chaos...the injured wailing, the girls crying, and the overpowering smell of smoke in the air. Filling his nostrils with it sharpened Elio's senses.

The wounded did not have burns, but they had all been hit by debris...possibly shrapnel. _So it was a bomb._ There was no doubt now...

"Mr. Alboreto, there are 6 people hurt!" cried Sister Amata.

"Any killed?"

"No, thank God." she crossed herself.

"Any still in the chapel?"

"None, Sir."

"Good," he growled, "Round up any students you have down here and put them in Mr. Kolikos van. We're taking them to the gymnasium!" The young nun rushed off to follow his orders, so Elio rushed around inspecting the wounded. None were too badly hurt...he gave simple first aid instructions to the uninjured villagers and checked Sister Amata's progress.

A terrified scream rang out. Elio's attention snapped to the laundry van's back door, where the young nun was on the grass trying to soothe a hysterical student. Stepping over them he looked inside...and found Mr. Kolikos with a single bloody gunshot wound to his temple.

Franco & Claudio were nowhere to be seen.

* * *

The girls were frantic as they were rushed to the gymnasium by nuns who were not very much more in control of their fear. Marisa physically held on to Alicia Simoncini, a grip that saved her from being trampled when the black haired girl tripped.

"This way girls! You'll be safe!" ordered Sister Cecilia as they neared the gymnasium. As the double doors swung open they were stopped in their tracks.

"Elio, come in...hostiles in the gym! 2 armed males!" Marisa reported on her radio.

"I'm on my way...keep as many of them safe as you can, but protect Alicia!"

2 quick thinking sisters slammed the doors shut and barred them with a flag-pole. "The basement!" ordered Sister Catherine, "Get them to the basement!" Gunshots rang out, and the nuns bravely shielded the screaming girls with their bodies. The two hostiles were trying to shoot their way through.

_Good, they're not too smart_, thought Mari, accessing the heavy wooden gymnasium doors. "Elio, we're re-routing to the basement...shots have been fired, nobody hit!" she reported over the radio.

In minutes the nuns had reached a door that led into the basement. "Move fast but carefully!" commanded Sister Cecilia, who took the lead. Marisa desperately wanted to get into the fight. If she had her Beretta, and no Alicia to protect, these idiot kidnappers would already lie dead. All of a sudden she didn'thave Alicia.

Mari scanned franticly for her charge and caught sight of a single uniformed figure with dark hair dashing down the hall and up a staircase that led to the 2nd floor. "Alicia, no!" she hissed, running after her. It was not difficult for the lightening quick cyborg to reach Simoncini. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"Keep away from me!" she cried, "Those men only want me, if you stay with me they'll take you too!"

_"Not likely"_ thought the cyborg, _"if they find a second girl they don't want they'll probably just kill her_._"_ Of course, that would be a bad thing to tell terrified Alicia. "This is a lousy time to become brave! Come on, let's get you hidden!" She called on her radio "Elio, were on the 2nd floor, hallway C...we're separated from the rest of the students!"

"What!?" demanded her boss. _It sounds like he's running_.

Her cyborg ears picked up heavy footsteps, 2 sets, one coming down the hall, one running up the staircase "I'll explain later, hostiles approaching!"

It was not the attackers that appeared first though; it was Mother Ursula from the hall. "My God, what are you two of all people doing up here!? You must come with me this instant!"

It was already too late for that. "Mother Superior, get down please, they're almost here!" Marisa urged, trying not to break cover. She had already shoved a trembling Alicia between a trophy case and the wall.

Slow & menacing, a man holding a .32 caliber Beretta strode up the stairs. "Franco!" hissed the nun, "How dare you be involved in this filthy business? Your own _mother _&_ sister_ attended this school!"

"And now I wash the goddamn dirty socks & underwear! You know, being a laundry slave doesn't pay very well" he growled. There was nobody to oppose him. He & Franco had ditched that old security guy back at the church, and taken the keys to the van so there was no way he'd be a problem. Now only one old nun and some red haired brat stood in the way of him snatching that black haired runt and collecting more money than he made in a year. "Sister, I don't wanna shoot you, outta respect for my Mamma, just stand aside; but if I gotta, I'm gonna cap you in the knee and make you watch while I blow this extra girl's brains out!"

Mother Ursula did not even flinch. She defiantly stepped in front of Marisa and growled "It will take more than one coward hiding behind his gun to pass me. You will not harm either one of these children!"

"Sister...I guess you never been shot in the knee before" Franco muttered, raising his pistol.

Mari could wait no longer. She stepped out from behind the nun and calmly said "Mother Superior, you are very brave, but you have to go now."

"Marisa Alboreto, you step back this instant before I tell your Father how..." but she was cut off. Mari yanked the nun's veil across her face to protect her from what was about to happen, and lifted her clear off the ground. As carefully as she could, Marisa threw the Mother Superior out the window, shattering glass before she landed on the sloped metal roof of the garden shed just inches below. She slid down and tumbled harmlessly into the soft soil of the vegetable patch, shielded from the tinkling glass shards by her veil.

"Holy Shit" muttered Franco, "You just threw a goddamn nun through a goddamn window!" He stupidly lowered his guard and Marisa launched a lightning-fast kick that sent his Beretta clattering down the staircase. Her second kick hit him in the gut, and as Franco doubled over in agony she ended his life with a crushing hammer punch to the back of his skull.

"Marisa...what did you do?" gasped Alicia, crawling out of her hiding spot and looking at Franco's dead body. She tossed her arms around the red-head girl and cried "I don't know how you did it, but you saved me!"

The sound of a pistol cocking alerted Marisa. She turned to see the second hostile at the end of the hall, aiming a Smith & Wesson revolver at her. He had seen what happened, and was taking no chances by getting close. Alicia saw him as well, and she turned her body to shield Marisa. _No!_ screamed out the voice in Mari's head...even with her reactions she could not move fast enough.

A single shot rang out, but it was Claudio's head that exploded. Seconds later, Elio appeared with his smoking 92FS in front of him, hard soled shoes sliding on the slick floor as he stopped from a full run.

"Two hostiles down" Marisa reported.

"Alicia...is she alright?" her handler yelled down the hall. It was then that Mari noticed Simoncini was slumped lifelessly in her arms. The cyborg put her down carefully and frantically searched for a gunshot wound. _Noooo, I only heard one shot! Only Elio fired! _It couldn't end this way, the attackers were dead, the mission was a success, _Alicia can't die now!_

Elio was on the scene fast, sliding in on his knees in a fashion not often witnessed in men of his age. The handler gave her the same look-over as his cyborg had. "No blood" observed the boss, "she's breathing..." he began to laugh, "...she's _fainted_."

**_________Keeping Secrets_____________**

The girls remained sequestered in the basement for 2 more hours (with Marisa standing guard over the only door, armed with both captured weapons) as Elio and the local police secured the scene. Aside from the two attackers, poor Mr. Kolikos was the only fatality of the brief battle. Despite the fact that he was of the Greek Orthodox Church several Sisters and the lightly wounded Priest carried his body into the chapel (its own flames just recently extinguished) had kept a vigil until he could be removed by the medical examiner.

By nightfall the situation had stabilized to a point resembling normalcy, although due to the drama and a lockdown by local police, the kitchen staff had been unable to provide dinner. As a result, that night, the terrifying circumstances of the students' day were somewhat ameliorated by a rare treat of delivered pizza for their evening meal. It took 3 pizzerias and 5 delivery drivers to fill the entire order on time.

Mother Superior had things on her mind other than pizza. She quietly summoned Mr. Alboreto to her office, and locked the door. "What would you like to talk about, Mother Ursula?" asked the old spy, "I hope you were not injured by your fall."

She did not take her usual seat behind her desk, deigning to sit beside him in the large wooden visitor chairs. "I think you know, Sir. I did not _fall_ out of that window. What happened today was not a natural occurrence that one expects to see in a normal life" she began softly, "your young daughter lifted me up and hurled me to safety as if I were no heavier than a foot-ball. Then she disarmed & killed that viscous man with her bare hands...there is no way you could have gotten there in time. I think we both know the truth about what happened today."

Elio's head swam with dire possibilities...this cagey woman had figured out what Marisa truly was, and the consequences were enormous. She reported to a hierarchy that led all the way up to the Vatican and wielded enormous political power, not only in Italy but worldwide. The entire government could be brought down should the secret of the Social Welfare Agency reach the Vatican. It pained him to admit so, but the right thing to do was eliminate her.

He could not do it himself...he was too well known around the campus by now...it would have to be another fratello, Jean & Rico most likely, _are they back from that sniper job yet?_ It would have to be done quickly...tonight if possible.

What about the rest of the SWA? _Oh jeeze, what about Avise Mancini? He's hard-core Catholic...this needs to be kept secret from him as well...and if you keep a secret from one handler you have to make it a secret from __all__ of them. Attempting to keep secrets from a den of spies usually fails...just look at how many people know the truth about the Elsa de Sica incident._ This was bad.

The nun continued her statement "...we both know the truth about what happened today. It was a miracle directly from God."

"Huh?" Elio was startled out of his plans for _clergy-cide_.

"A miracle, Sir, and one as uncontestable as I have ever heard of" she said, reaching out to take his hand, "even a man without religion such as yourself must see that."

"What do you plan to do?" he asked.

Mother Ursula tilted her head slightly as if in deep thought. "I would desperately love to see this brought to the attention of the Holy Father in Rome, but it is wrong. If Marisa is truly the instrument of our Lord He surely has a greater plan for her than the disposal of one wicked kidnapper. We must be patient and trust in His plan." She leaned forward, and lowered her voice. "The Holy event will be recorded in the chronicles of our order. The secret will be known only to me, my successor as Mother Superior, and those that follow her in their own time. It shall not be revealed until the day that God's true purpose for Marisa is revealed."

"That..." muttered Alboreto, "...sounds like the best course of action."

"Will you pray with me?" she asked.

Elio & the old nun sat together holding hands, heads bowed in reverent silence. For a man with no clear religion, Alboreto certainly prayed that evening...thanking whatever force of providence had dealt him an incredible stroke of luck...

**____________Mission's End______________**

The trial lasted 2 more days, but they passed without any drama. Georgio Maribaldi's accomplices were all sentenced to long prison terms for support of terrorist activities and Carlo Simoncini's family was allowed to return to lives in peace, albeit under the watchful eye of continued police protection.

The terrifying events of Saturday served to upset the social order amongst the Academy students, and when things settled back down again Marisa found that her fame had only been temporary. With every girl now having an exciting story about where she had been, & what she had seen during the bombing of the chapel and the subsequent attack by kidnappers, Mari's mere act of defiance against the nuns was quickly forgotten. Furthermore, the nuns themselves had performed heroically and earned the respectful obedience of all their young charges. Rebelliousness was now looked upon with scorn by the other girls, at least for the time being.

"I suppose this is what Elio was warning me about" Marisa lamented to her only remaining friend, who was of course Alicia Simoncini.

"It's not fair" consoled the black haired girl, "you saved Mother Superior's life and mine, I know that. I wish we could tell people what you did."

"And I still say you dreamed it, silly!" laughed Marisa, reciting the official cover story, "That bad man pushed Mother Ursula out the window and my Papa killed both of those kidnappers. You would have seen all that if you hadn't fainted!"

Alicia let the subject drop, but gave her friend a knowing smile. _"Sure,"_ she thought _"but Mother Superior & I know what __really__ happened."_ She was kind of glad she and her friend were not the most popular girls in school anymore, Alicia was still very shy & that was _way_ too much pressure.

There was one final indignity to be laid upon Marisa before she left. The girls said their goodbyes on Monday evening before Mari spent her last night in the dormitory. She woke up with the rest, at the ringing of the nun's bell, but lingered alone to secretly leave something behind on Alicia's bed & say a sentimental good-bye to the room which had been her home for a week. By consequence of her delay she accidentally became the last girl in line, and as she passed the nun was not as lenient as she had been on Marisa's first morning. The cyborg never told her handler or anyone else about that humiliating smack, and carried her secret embarrassment to the grave.

Back in "_civilian_" clothes Marisa & Elio loaded up the Ducati for the journey back to Rome. "You did really well this week...I've been in communication with HQ and they're all raving about the job you did" he informed her. That made her proud...she was sure that a week ago everyone would have bet on her screwing up this mission, including herself! "By the way...I forgot about this in my bag and thought you might like to have it on the ride home." Elio handed over her mp3 player.

The look of self-satisfaction dropped off her face. "You...talked to Mr. Hillshire?" she asked, cringing.

"Before the mission" he rumbled, "let's say we just allow this one to slide since you did so well on the job, but I don't ever want to hear about you screwing off in class again, eh?"

She breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "Yes, Sir, thank you" but wondered if she had just traded a potentially fat reward for forgiveness of some trivial misbehavior from over a week ago.

The uncomfortable moment was broken by Alicia, who came dashing out just before Marisa put her helmet on. "Mari! Wait...I didn't thank you for this!" She held a sheet of coarse gray artist's paper which carried on it a pencil & charcoal sketch, the results of Marisa's week in art class. "It's wonderful" Simoncini "but it doesn't look like I do...you made me look _beautiful_."

The cyborg rolled her eyes...in the time they had been together she had not succeeded in curing the timid girl of her self-deprecating nature. Luckily Elio jumped in and said the right thing "You still recognized it was _you_, right? Think about that." He put his helmet on and swung a leg over the tall sport-touring bike.

"I have something for you too" Alicia said. She produced a polished wooden box, and opened it to reveal a brand new set of drawing pencils. "You told me your school back home doesn't have art class like we do...and it would makes me sad to think you won't draw anymore."

"But...Alicia, you need these..." gasped Mari, unable to take her eyes off the gift.

She scoffed "No I don't...I stink at art..."

"Alicia!" protested the red-head, but her friend cut her off.

"...but I do like bird-watching, and chess, so I'm going to join some clubs." she explained "I wouldn't have had the nerve to do those things if you hadn't taught me to be brave!" That was all that needed to be said. The two girls embraced one last time. Elio regarded them with a grin; the normal girl in her blue-green plaid school uniform, the cyborg girl in boots, blue jeans, and her armored motorcycle jacket.

After allowing the throbbing V-twin engine to warm up they rode down the gravel driveway and out exited gate into the outside world for the first time in a week. Elio spoke over the helmet intercom; "I'll give you your pistol back when we stop for fuel. Are you happy to be going back?"

"It wasn't as bad as I thought," Marisa admitted, "but all the same, 'Etta or Rico should have to take the next mission that involves _nuns_." She gave a glance over her shoulder, and caught one last glance of the Academy as it disappeared behind a veil of trees, conscious that it was the last time she would ever see the school.

**________________Epilogue_______________**

Hours later Elio pulled up to the front gate of the Social Welfare Agency compound. He enjoyed playing a somewhat dangerous trick on the guards, accelerating toward the gate until they panicked and reached for their pistols, then laying hard on the powerful Brembo brakes just in time to make a smooth stop in front of the sweating officer. His mean spirited prank always drew a giggle from the young cyborg on the pillion seat.

As the gate guard checked his & Marisa's identification Elio raised a gloved hand waved to someone he's seen in the side-mirror. Marisa turned her head to see Mr. Hillshire's Benz estate-wagon with Alessandro driving and their two cyborgs in the back seat. Hillshire looked up from the laptop he was typing on and returned Alboreto's wave. The fratelli were just returning from their mission to guard U2.

After dropping his cyborg off at the dorm with her small duffel bag and the souvenirs she'd taken back from the Academy, Elio rode over to the office building to file his initial report. He arrived at the same time as the other two handlers (they still had their cyborgs in tow) and they all walked in together.

Alessandro & Petra entered the mission planning room looking relaxed and refreshed, confident and ready to go as if they'd just had a week of leave time. Hillshire by contrast wore a grumpy look on his face, and Triela followed a step behind him with her face crimson & head hung low.

"How was the concert tour?" asked a cheerful Priscilla (her _mission_ to Naples had been a success, and there had been a lot of sales at the shops).

"Unbelievable!" exclaimed Petrushka, breathlessly. Sandro took a seat at an unoccupied desk and she sat down on his knee, "We never ran into any hostiles, and we had _so much fun_."

"Someone had a little _too much fun_" grumbled a haggard looking Victor Hillshire, shooting his cyborg an irritated glance as he dropped his completed report in the IN box. Triela kept her head hung low in contrite submission, but could not manage to wipe a sneaky grin off her face, which told everyone in the room that whatever trouble she had gotten into had been _worth it_.

As the handlers and support staff exchanged stories about their busy week a few kept their eyes on Elio Alboreto, who was sitting down writing his summary report on the Rufina mission. "Giuseppe & Henrietta are done with their mission too, but they're taking a day off to visit the Chocolate Museum in Cologne before coming back" laughed Amadeo, "You should have seen Jean's face, he was _so pissed off_, but Chief Lorenzo gave his okay so he couldn't do a thing about it!"

Priscilla added what she thought was the funniest part; "The Boss' one stipulation was that Giuse bring him back a single unopened box of German chocolates...specifically one _not_ picked over by Henrietta, who apparently shares Chief Lorenzo's passion for hazelnuts!" She turned to Elio and asked "How did the catholic school thing go, Mr. A?"

"Better than I thought" he admitted, "Mari actually did very well; she killed one of the hostiles without breaking cover. Also, she's now officially considered an _Instrument of God_."

"Really?" muttered Alessandro, "I always kinda figured she was a member of the other team."

"Yeah, it was weird. I'm not putting that in my report," said Alboreto, "I really don't want to hear Avise telling me all about how _that's sacrilegious_."

The instant Elio finished his summary it was pounced upon by the support staff. All of them read it with furious interest until Ferro shooed them out of her way and got a look for herself. "HA! Right there!" she announced, triumphantly pointing to a line in Alboreto's report and drawing confused glances from those who did not know what was going on. This was certainly out of character for the stoic "ice queen" of Section 2. "Nun through a window...I win!"

"But Mari was _protecting_ the nun, not attacking her" protested Amadeo (who had chosen _nun run over by a van_).

Ferro crossed her arms and returned to her usual demeanor, "There was no stipulation of intent in the original bet. A nun was thrown through a plate glass window, and Marisa did the deed, that is all that is important. Pay up, losers." The support staff exchanged money reluctantly. "Maybe I should say something nice to Marisa...she delivered me a pretty nice payday..." mused the ex-policewoman.

"Yeah, she did well" sighed Elio, "I think I'll take her up to the Dive Training Center for a little underwater time tomorrow...as a reward."

"That will have to wait" deadpanned Jean Croce, who had just walked in carrying a new stack of mission sheets. "There is still have a lot of work coming in. Get yourselves a good night's rest...we will _all_ be re-deployed by 0900 tomorrow. By the way, Public Safety is bogged down in cases too, so we all have to do our own prep work, permits and expense invoices."

Groans issued from those hoping for a little time off. It was time to get back to work.

* * *

4 years on, Priscilla was browsing a pawn shop in Rome when she noticed a peculiar inscription on a gold watch. The intel analyst had a mind like a steel trap...she never forgot a name and this one sounded familiar enough to investigate.

One week later Carlo Simoncini received a package by government courier. It contained his Grandfather's gold watch.

**END**


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